Sparkling
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: After an experiment with synthetic Energon goes wrong, Jack and the other humans are left to care for Arcee in her "unique" condition. Don't take this too seriously.
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1. Sparkling

**A/N: After reading Blackwolf 219's short story Childs play, this idea has been stuck in my head ever since. If you guys have any suggestions for it I'd be glad to listen. Unlike my other stories though this one will take longer to update.**

_Jasper High…_

Jack Darby, secret human ally to the Autobots, was currently waiting outside of school on the front porch with his friends Miko and Raf. They were waiting for the arrival of their Autobot partners Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee to arrive and take them to the Autobot base.

It was at this time that Jack notice two vehicles, one a large green SUV and the other a yellow black muscle car pull into the school parking lot. These were actually the alternate forms of the two Autobots Bumblebee and Bulkhead.

When the two vehicles pulled up, Bulkheads passenger and driver side door opened up.

"Hop in Jack" the deep booming voice of bulkhead said emanating from the vehicle "I'm in charge of bringing you to base today."

"What happened to Arcee? Is she okay?" He asked as he got into the vehicle.

"Oh yeah she's fine" Bulkhead said, stifling a chuckle

"Let's just say" He continued " there was a little incident back at base and well, you wouldn't want her coming to pick you up anytime soon."

At this Jack frowned. Normally Arcee would never miss a chance to pick him up, so whatever had happened must have been serious.

"Hey Bulk, let's turn up some tunes" Miko said as she reached for the radio.

Jack grabbed her arm stopping it from reaching the console "Let's not" he said.

Miko fell back into her chair arms crossed "Party-pooper."

With that said Bulkhead and Bumblebee pulled out of the lot and began the drive towards base. It was a relatively quiet and awkward drive, as Jack didn't usually ride with Miko and Bulkhead, though from what he heard, the rides mostly consisted of blaring shriek metal.

About halfway through Bulkhead decided to try and start up a conversation "So anything interesting happen at school?"

"Actually yeah" Jack answered "We just got off for spring break."

"What's spring break?" A confused Bulk asked.

"One of the best times of the year Bulk" Miko answered "No school for two whole weeks. You know what that means."

"I do?" He asked

"Yeah we get to stay at base the whole time." She answered

"Well you guys do" Jack said "I still have work to do on the weekdays, but besides that yeah were free for the next two weeks."

Bulkhead groaned "Ratchets gonna love that."

Everyone laughed at the mental image of Ratchets hilarious reaction as the Bulkhead neared the base.

* * *

_Autobot Headquarters…_

The sound of rumbling could be heard through the base as Bulkhead and Bumblebee pulled into base and let their human occupants out. As Jack hopped out of Bulkhead, the large bot transformed into robot mode.

Jack looked around the silo that had become a second home to him. As usual Ratchet was working on the Terminal he had set up to analyze any possible Decepticon activity. To his left was the long hallway of the Ground bridge, the Autobot teleportation device.

Jack continued looking around for his partner Arcee until he heard an odd sound. It sounded like the patter of small metal feet on the floor, but it was too loud for Scraplets, and to small for any of the bots.

Jacks train of thought was interrupted, when a small blue object slammed into him, and he heard a high pitch voice squeal "JACK!"

Looking down Jack saw what had to be the strangest thing he had ever seen. Hugging him at about the waist, was what looked like a child sized version of Arcee. The little blue bot looked up at him, eyes shining with a level of happiness and innocence that he had never seen on her before.

And it was Arcee, even if she was far smaller than before, and almost childlike in appearance. Jack looked up at Bulkhead, who was trying to stifle a laugh.

"I take it this is what you meant?" he asked. gesturing to the sparkling hugging him.

Bulkhead busted out laughing "Yeah this is what I meant, oh man Jack you should have seen the look on your face. Miko tell me you got a picture of the that?"

"Sorry Bulk" She said "Phone wasn't out, wasn't expecting a baby Arcee to tackle Jack"

"Sparkling" Ratchet said from his terminal

"What?" Miko asked

"The proper term for a Cybertronian child is sparkling" He answered.

"So wait" Jack asked as he tried to get Arcee to let him out of her embrace "Arcee's been turned into some sort of toddler? How?"

Ratchet sighed pinching the bridge of his "nose" "I was working on a new variation of the synthetic Energon formula when it became unstable. Arcee pushed me out of the explosion, but was caught in the blast herself. The result, well I think you've met the result."

"So how long will this last?" Jack asked again

"By my estimates, about a week." He answered

"That's just great." Jack said looking down at the small sparkling, who was gesturing for him to pick her up. Shrugging, Jack did so, finding that she was surprisingly light, given that she was made of metal. The small bot began nuzzling Jack while he held her, only for his attention to be drawn towards the booming footsteps of Optimus Prime.

"While Arcee's condition is unfortunate, we as Autobots will be unable to care for her."

"Wait why not?" Asked Raf, who had been silent up until this point.

"We are soldiers, and as such are in constant preparation for battle. This leaves us with little time to care for Arcee until she has returned to her original form." Optimus answered gesturing at the now still form of Arcee, who had quickly fallen into recharge in Jacks arms.

"Wait, wait" Miko said "are you asking us to babysit a baby bot? Dude not cool."

"Miko" Jack began before being interrupted by Optimus

"If you do not wish to care for Arcee I understand however I was not asking all of you but Jack in particular."

"Me?" Jack asked "Why only me?"

"As Arcee is your partner" Optimus explained "It would only make sense for you to care for her. So I ask Jack, will you care for your partner in her current form?"

Jack looked at Arcee who was resting her head on his shoulder now. It was damn adorable, and really who else would be able to watch her. Miko certainly wouldn't and shouldn't and Arcee was almost as large as Raf which would make her a handful.

Jack let out a sigh "Sure I guess, after all what's the worst that can happen?"

**A/N: So here it is I really hope you guys like it and don't try to hurt me. I won't be updating to often on this story, but If you have any plot ideas, Don't hesitate to tell me. I should also have a new chapter for Techno-Organics out tomorrow. Anyway Please review and let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

_Saturday at the Autobot Base…_

So far babysitting the sparkling Arcee had been a pretty simple job for Jack. After he had agreed to watch her, she had quickly fallen into recharge for the rest of the night. Jack and the others had stayed the night at the base, as Jack didn't have work till Monday, and they were all free from school work.

Now Jack was sitting on the couch in the human living area with the small Arcee sitting on his lap. Raf had been watching some cartoon and oddly enough Arcee was entranced by it.

Jack snorted slightly _'Guess some things are universal'_ he thought. His thoughts were interrupted when Arcee hopped off his lap and began exploring the area around the television set.

Jack kept a close eye on her. The similarities between a sparkling and human 5 year old were astounding, and if Jack wasn't careful she would hurt herself somehow.

"So" Miko asked, gaining Jacks attention "what's it like taking care of a baby bot."

Before Jack could respond Arcee turned to Miko with an indignant look on her face "I'm not a baby, I'm a big bot and someday I'll be a strong warrior." she decreed.

Miko raised her hands in surrender "Not arguing with you Cee, just asking your partner a question is all."

Arcee turned to explore again while Miko returned her attention to Jack "So? What's it like?"

Jack shrugged "Not all that different from babysitting a human kid, just an alien instead."

"She can't transform can she? Wouldn't she just change into like, a remote control motorcycle or something?"

Jack shook his head "No I asked Ratchet about it and he said that sparklings can't transform due to their parts not being fully hardened or something like that."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of something shorting out and Arcee giggling. Jack turned to see Arcee had stuck her finger in an electrical socket, which explained the noise.

Jack rushed over to the femme "Arcee!? Arcee, are you okay?" He asked shaking the little femme as he kneeled to her eye level.

Arcee's eyes rose to meet his. Her optics had dilated, and a large grin was plastered on her face. Jack knew that look. He had seen it plenty in his babysitting days before he worked at the K.O burger. It was the look a five year old had when they had just eaten a bag full of candy.

Before Jack could utter a single word, Arcee shot off down the stairs like a bullet. "Arcee, get back here!" He called as he approached the stairs with Miko in tow.

"What was it you said earlier?" she asked, her own grin stuck on her face "What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

_Somewhere within the bowels of the Autobot base…_

"ARCEE!" Jack called. He had spent the past 10 minutes searching for the sparkling and had had no luck. Of course he was worried that he wouldn't find her. But he was just as worried that he might find her before her energy high ended.

Jack made a mental note to start childproofing all the electrical sockets so that she wouldn't do it again. When Arcee was back to normal, he was definitely not going to let her live this down. Jack smiled slightly at the thought of her reaction to all this.

He figured his partner would react in one of two ways. Either she would hide in her quarters for the next week refusing to talk to anyone out of sheer embarrassment, or she would tough it out, and scrap anyone who made a comment about it. Either one was possible, though jack hoped to avoid the latter of the two.

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream. His pulse elevated. That was Arcee's scream. "Hold on Arcee, I'm coming." He yelled, and he took off in a sprint towards direction of the voice.

He didn't know how he knew to navigate the maze of halls in the base, but something, some sort of instinct guided him. Eventually he turned into the hall that contained the Autobot vault of relics, and other items.

Jack walked up and opened a door, to see Arcee staring up in fear. Jack followed her gaze and saw what had caused her to scream. When she was wandering the halls, Arcee had stumbled upon her old nemesis Airachnid, frozen in an insecticon cryo-pod.

According to Ratchet, most of Arcee's most traumatic memories were buried away and wouldn't surface while she was a sparkling, unless directly influenced by something associated with the event.

Jack Realized that seeing Airachnid must have awoken some of those memories, which for the innocent mind of a child was just too much.

"Arcee." He called gently. The young femme turned to Jack, but her feet remained planted to the ground. Jack's breathe caught in his throat at the sight of her. She had a look of pure terror on her face, with tears of anti-freeze streaming down her face.

Jack slowly approached her and kneeled with his arms open, in a welcoming gesture. Arcee practically ran into his arms, sobbing into his shoulders.

Jack lifted her up and exited the chamber, rubbing her back in comfort.

"Jack" She whispered, as he walked down the hall.

"Yes?"

"Y-you won't let the monster hurt me, will you? You won't let her scare you way, like my friend?" Jack froze at her comment. Arcee had told her about Tailgates, violent demise at Airachnids death, and how it haunted her still.

Jack set Arcee down and kneeled in front of her looking into her optics "Arcee," he said "I will never let anyone hurt you, or scare me away, okay? You're my friend, and I never let my friends get hurt."

She gave him a hopeful look "You promise?" She asked.

"I promise." He answered. A look of happiness crossed her face as Arcee hugged him again.

"Now come on," He said as he stood up, holding her little servo "Let's get you back to the others, I'm sure they're worried about you."

"But you're here to protect me. Why would they worry?" She said as she looked up at him with a smile.

**A/N: Wow, that went unexpectedly dark. Seriously this was not at all what I had in mind for a second chapter. Oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed this little awww moment I wrote up. Also I might update Techno-Organics tomorrow, might not, never got a chance to work on it yesterday or today. Anyway, I need ideas for the next chapter, so if you have any ideas don't be afraid to let me know in the reviews, or PM me. Remember, no reviews, no chapters. Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3: I Can Explain

_Saturday night at the Autobot Base…_

After Jack had brought Arcee back into the main area of the silo, he had quickly made sure to childproof every outlet in the vicinity. Luckily during that time, Arcee had been entertained by the television once again. It seemed that whenever Jack needed to keep the little sparkling occupied, TV was the easiest way to handle it.

After he finished childproofing the outlets, he made his way up to the human hang out area to check on Arcee. When he made his way up, he saw that she had fallen into recharge on the couch next to Raf, curled in a little ball, sucking on one of her servos.

Jack chuckled at how adorable it was, and almost decided to take a picture of it. Except he knew that she would likely kill him if she ever found out he kept a picture, so it was best just to enjoy the moment.

"I knew that childproofing the outlets would take a while." Jack said "but when did she fall into recharge?"

"About five minutes after you turned the TV on." Raf said.

Jack nodded, when the bases proximity alarms started blaring. Arcee whimpered and started to wake, but Jack stroking her helm reassuringly, and the little bot calmed down, falling back into recharge.

"What is it Ratchet?" Jack asked from the couch.

Ratchet looked at his terminal before sighing "It's your mother."

"Mom? But why would she drive to base when she could just call." Jack reached for his phone, when he realized it wasn't in his pocket.

He looked around, and saw that it was lying on the table the TV was on, near the socket Arcee had stuck her finger into. Jack realized he must have set it there when he checked on Arcee, and forgot about it when she ran off into the base.

He picked up the phone and flipped it open, checking for missed calls. Four missed calls and three text messages, all from his mom.

"Scrap." he cursed. No wonder she had driven to base to check on him. Since he didn't have his phone, June would have tried to call Arcee. Since Arcee was just a sparkling, her comm. unit would be underdeveloped or non-existent preventing June from contacting her, not that it would have done much good.

"Raf can you watch Arcee while I talk to my mom when she gets here?" Jack asked.

"No problem." the boy replied.

Jack headed down the stairs, and waited for his mom to pull into base. The sound of her car screeching down the halls echoed through the base, and her red four door came screaming into base. It came to a sudden stop by Ratchet's terminal, much to his annoyance, and June rushed out towards Jack.

She embraced her son in a hug, before taking a step back and giving him a hard gaze "Jackson Darby," she started, causing Jack to flinch at the use of his full name "do you have any idea how worried I've been? I called you several times, and when that didn't work I called Arcee and she didn't pick up. I thought you were-" she cut her self off with a small sob before hugging him again "Don't you ever worry me like that again young man." she ordered.

"Sorry mom." Jack said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment "I was just a bit caught up in something."

June eyed her son suspiciously "What could possibly keep you from answering your phone or calling your mother to let you know you were safe?" she asked.

Before Jack could answer, he heard the familiar sound of small metal feet on the floor, followed by a small voice "Jack? Who this?" Arcee asked as she ran up behind his leg.

_'So much for introducing mom to Arcee the subtle way' _Jack thought. June's eyes buy now were the size of dinner plates, as she looked at the small sparkling hiding behind her sons leg, like a shy human child.

"Wh-who is that?" she asked in amazement.

"Mom this might be hard to believe," Jack said "but this is Arcee."

June's jaw practically hit the floor at that revelation. Now that Jack said it, she definitely recognized the similarities, though the more pointed parts of Arcee's frame, the spike on her head and wrists reduced to stubby pink tabs.

"H-how did this happen?" she asked, still stunned.

Jack sighed "Long story short, there was an accident, and it turned Arcee into a sparkling, or Cybertronian equivalent of a toddler." he explained.

"Is she still all there?" June asked.

"She remembers her closer friends and teammates, but her more… traumatic, experiences are buried away." Jack said.

He felt a small tug on his pants, and looked down at Arcee, who had a questioning look on her face "Who is that?" she asked again, pointing at June.

Jack knelt to her level "Arcee, I'd like you to meet my mom, June Darby."

Arcee's optics widened "You have a mommy?" she asked.

Arcee turned and rushed over to June, excitement plastered over her faceplates "Your Jack's mommy?" she asked again, making June laugh a little. The sparkling version of Arcee was so innocent compared to her harsher adult form, that it amazed the women they were the same bot.

June nodded "I am." she answered.

"Wow" Arcee said in genuine amazement "You must be a really good mommy." she stated.

"And whys that?" June asked, amused by the whole conversation.

"Jack is a really good friend, he's my bestest friend." she proclaimed. Jack just smiled a little at the sparkling's compliment.

"Is that so?" June asked.

Arcee nodded excitedly before running back to Jack to give him a hug around the waist "Whoa hey there Arcee. I think it's time to get you to bed." Jack said.

"Awww." Arcee whined "But I don't wanna, I'm not even tired." at that she immediately let out a big yawn.

"I'll carry you to bed." Jack said.

Arcee immediately perked up "Okay." and she hopped onto Jack, who staggered a little by the sudden increase in mass before regaining his footing.

June gave him a questioning look "She likes to be carried." he explained.

June nodded in understanding. Jack had been the same way when he was younger even if he would deny it every time it was brought up.

Jack carried Arcee back up into the human living area "I thought I asked you to watch her?" Jack asked Raf.

"Sorry," Raf said "she's real fast when she wants to be."

Jack sighed and carried Arcee to the fourth makeshift bed in the human area. While there were no human quarters in the Autobot base, there were several beds for the humans to sleep on during their stays at base. A fourth one had recently been added so that Arcee wouldn't have to sleep in her old quarters that were far too large.

Jack laid Arcee on the bed, her optics already struggling to stay open "Goodnight Cee." he said as he tucked her in.

Arcee just let out a small yawn and turned over, her winglets pressed against her back as the sparkling fell into recharge.

Jack smiled and walked back over to the TV area, where his mom was waiting "So I take it your staying here at base?" she asked.

Jack nodded "Yeah, someone's got to watch Arcee, and really could you imagine Miko watching her?"

June shivered at the thought of the teenager watching any small creature infant or not. Suddenly, a thought crossed Junes mind "Who'll watch her while you're at work?"

Jacks eyes widened as she reminded him of his duties "Scrap, I forgot. You wouldn't happen to be able to take the week off would you mom?" he asked.

"Tell you what," she explained "I'll take Monday off to watch her, but then you'll either have to skip out on work or find someone else to watch her."

"Fair enough." Jack said.

June gave her son another hug "I'm heading back home, I'll see you on Monday."

"Bye mom" Jack said as she headed back to her car. He glanced at the sleeping form of Arcee and smiled. This was going to be a very interesting week.

**A/N: Well I finally made another chapter. What did you guys think, too much fluff, not enough? Let me know in the reviews, and don't forget to suggest new ideas as well. In the meantime I'll be working on Another Kind of Alien, Chapter : Scrapheap. Slight heads up, we get a new power from Jack, see if you can figure it out. Bye.**


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